Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP - True Picture

Firm profile
Penningtons Manches Cooper is a leading UK and international law firm which provides high quality legal advice tailored to both businesses and individuals. We have UK offices in the City of London, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Cambridge, Guildford, Oxford and Reading, as well as international offices in Singapore, Piraeus, Paris and Madrid.

Main areas of work
Our main areas of practice include dispute resolution, business services, real estate, and private individuals. We have established a strong reputation in a variety of sectors, particularly private wealth, shipping, technology and property. By joining forces with the partners and staff of Thomas Cooper in July 2019, we have added significant depth to our core practice. The move builds on the expansion of our litigation and arbitration offering and has introduced us to the maritime community in which Thomas Cooper has long been a key player. Among our clients we count multi-national corporations, public companies, professional partnerships, banks and financial institutions as well as private individuals, owner managed businesses and start-ups. Our broad international focus is supported by well-established links with law firms throughout the world. We are a member of Multilaw and the European Law Group, networks with representatives in over 100 countries, and many of our lawyers play leading roles in various international bodies. 

Training opportunities
We seek high calibre candidates with enthusiasm, drive and resilience, good communication skills and commercial awareness. We look for candidates that have achieved or are on track to achieve a 2:1 in any degree discipline. The ability to work outside London, while at the same time being part of a firm with a City presence, appeals to many of the trainees that we recruit. Whichever office you are based in, you will be given a thorough grounding in the law, with four six-month seats across the firm’s divisions. Trainees get immersed in the work and culture of their own office, but come together with all the trainees on a regular basis and with the whole firm at sports and social events. We are dedicated to delivering a varied training programme, avoiding too specialised an approach before qualification. We recognise that our trainees are happiest and most successful when busy with good quality and challenging work. The value of giving our trainees responsibility and allowing direct contact with clients is also recognised, with the knowledge that experienced solicitors are always ready to give support when needed.

Vacation scheme

We offer vacation scheme placements in all our UK offices. The deadline for applications to our 2024 Vacation Scheme is 3 January 2024. 

Other benefits
Life assurance, critical illness cover, pension, private medical insurance, minimum 25 days holiday, interest free season ticket loan, sports and social events.  

University law careers fairs 2023

We are attending a number of virtual and in-person law fairs this year and will be at the All About Laws Virtual Law fair Series, Legal Cheek’s Virtual Law fairs and BPP’s Virtual Law Fair throughout autumn. For more information please visit our website. 

Diversity, inclusion and wellbeing
Our programme to promote inclusion is known as Pennclusion. It comprises a steering committee of key internal stakeholders (with representation from the Management Board, HR, Communications and the Partner Sponsors and Chair(s) of our six committees. Those committees are:

• Age
• Disability, Neurodiversity & Mental Health
• Gender
• LGBTQIA+
• Race & Faith
• Social Mobility

Each committee is tasked with delivering high-impact initiatives to drive inclusion through the business. Some examples of these firmwide-driven initiatives in the last couple of years include:

• Recruitment and training of MHFA Mental Health Champions from among colleagues across our UK offices;
• Our monthly Coffee Randomiser networking initiative, in which colleagues are randomly matched to meet (or connect via Zoom) for a 30 minute catch up to get to know each other better. The intent of this is to break down silos between teams across the firm to promote collaboration and to foster a sense of community; and
• The launch of our Empower programme, aimed at increasing the representation of Black heritage and ethnic minority individuals in the legal sector.

As a firm, we are members or partners of the following organisations which support the progression of DEI related issues:

• We are members of WorkLife Central, a global digital offering of expert-led content designed to support, inform and inspire professionals in their family life, work life and wellbeing.
• We partner with Rare Recruitment in order to ensure our recruitment is contextualised.
• We are signatories to the Race Fairness Commitment.
• We have signed the Women in Law Pledge. The pledge, launched in partnership with the Bar Council of England and Wales and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx), was created to bring gender equality to the forefront of the conversation. The Women in Law pledge builds on the work we have been doing to create a more equal legal profession for all, and supports our gender pay gap action plan.
• We are signatories to The Mental Health at Work Commitment.
• We are members of the Black Solicitors Network.
• We are members of Stonewall, the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ charity and annually complete their Workplace Equality Index.
• We are members of the Business Disability Forum.
• We are signatories of PRIME – which seeks to advance socioeconomic diversity in the legal profession.
• We are also members of legal CORE, a cross firm collaboration designed to substantively increase the representation of Black, Asian and ethnic minority individuals across the legal sector.
• We are Gold members of MyPlus – disability consulting.
• We are also Gold members of Women in the City Afro-Caribbean Network (WCAN).